


Years don’t Lie

by jaaesthetixx



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Los Angeles, M/M, Mutual Pining, Summer Vacation, Travel, gay sunset, two bros chilling at a pool not 5 feet apart because theyre both gay and pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29843184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaaesthetixx/pseuds/jaaesthetixx
Summary: “You’re kidding” Kaoru scoffs at Joe’s sudden words.Fingers tightly gripping his robe as he sat at the corner of the pool withhis toes dipping slightly, Joe notices his nervousness and swims closer;with no one in sight, and the orange sunset beneath the sky,“I’m serious Kaoru, you make loving fun”Kaoru’s heart beats tenfold.
Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom
Comments: 11
Kudos: 124





	Years don’t Lie

**Author's Note:**

> This is literally just what I think happened in their LA trip. I cannot stop thinking about it so here we are!
> 
> Also feel free to listen to the playlist I made while reading. 
> 
> Enjoy! <3
> 
> ps pls be nice this is my first time writing a fic for charcters ohmygod.

[matcha blossom's LA playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2cKiibhT3MFwxTgmoXwhjz?si=WtA5hTAJQjyx7Me9vInrbQ)

“This is ridiculous” Kaoru murmurs as he walks past Kojiro to enter the plane,

a backpack slung in one shoulder as he holds up the plane ticket to check their seats,

“Don’t act like you hate it” Kojiro grunts when they continued to walk past the aisle,

“You and I both know we need this more than anyone” 

Kaoru rolls his eyes, “It’s not that I hate it, it’s the fact that I have to sit next to a

gorilla like you for 11 hours.” Kojiro chuckles at that, and the pink haired man exasperates

“it’s not enough that we’ll be spending a week in LA together. No! you just had to pick a flight with no layover” 

“Sure, this you pick a fight with” the other retorts and Kaoru stops by their aisle

“Not picking a fight. You’re just an idiot for choosing this flight” 

Kojiro mindlessly takes the backpack from Kaoru’s shoulder as

he puts it in the overhead compartment while the other slides in his seat.

Kojiro isn't dense, he knows Kaoru is afraid of flights.

More than 8 years of knowing his childhood friend he's bound to know every little detail about him.

This thought crosses his mind often. 

He slides next to the pink haired man and he sees his fingers nervously fiddling with his Carla bracelet,

“I would have picked a different flight if there was an alternative” he tries

“Carla” Kaoru speaks

“Yes master?”

“how many minutes till boarding?” 

“Approximately two minutes master.”

Kouru closes his eyes to ease the anxiety,

“Here” Joe says grabbing his hand and giving it a tight squeeze 

the other slaps the hand away, “What do you think you’re doing?” he asks

“Jeez!”

Later on as the plane boards

Kojiro feels a hand slowly grip into his and turns to see his friend's eyes shut,

he gives Kaoru’s hand a warm squeeze and decides that he finds this just a little bit endearing.

  
  
  


\----

  
  
  


“Carla”

“Yes master?”

“How many hours till landing?”

“Approximately 5 hours”

Kaoru internally groans and glances at Joe who is sleeping peacefully...

and slightly leaning towards the aisle where the flight attendants are pushing the food cart,

“Oi” he nudges his friend

“they’re serving dinner, you’re big head is in the way” he nudges again,

but the other doesn’t waver. 

With a sigh, he gently holds and places his friend’s head on his shoulder.

Covers him in a blanket for good measure,

“Bigass gorilla” he murmurs.

  
  


\-------

  
  


“Are you sure this is the right direction?” Kaoru asks,

both of them skating through Colorado Ave. near Sta. Monica pier,

“Could you trust me a little bit more? My hunches are always right” Kojiro says

turning to face his unamused friend behind him

“I highly doubt that” he says, 

but still follows him.

Eyes trained at the back of Kojiro.

He notices the sun shining through the strands of his green hair,

the way his biceps flex through the sleeves of his yellow striped polo,

effortlessly skating with the wind.

Kaoru thinks he likes this view the most,

it was the view he's most used to ever since

they were younger, ever since they started skating.

something settles in his stomach,

he thinks Kojiro is very pretty like this.

"We're here" Kojiro stops and picks up his board,

they go inside the restaurant boards in hands and were surprised by the amount of  
teenagers in the establishment.

“Kojiro!” Kaoru hisses and tugs the others sleeve,

“I thought you said this was a proper dine in?”

His brows knit, “It is! I got us reservations to taste the best lobster in town”

he says leaving Kaoru behind to approach the waiter 

“Excuse me, Hi. Reservations for two at 1pm for Nanjo Kojiro” 

The waiter looks down at the log book and frowns,

“I’m sorry sir, but there aren't any reservations under that name”

“But-” Kojiro counters,

and he feels Kaoru stand beside him “What’s taking so long?”

  
"he says theres no reservations"

Kaoru's eyes remain indifferent as he scans across the restaurant,

Kojiro notices the food on the trays,

_oh_

he grimaces for whats about to come

"Kojiro..." Kaoru says tone still indifferent,

"you said we were eating at The Lobster"

"I know"

"This is a taco restaurant"

"I can see that"

He feels a smack against the back of his head

_"OW!"_

"You feeble minded gorilla! I knew it!

Your hunches are never right!"

"HEY!" Kojiro practically screams, "I was right when you lost your

wallet during our social studies trip and

you were so glad I used my hunch!"

  
"Not the point!" the other counters and the waiter kind of wants

to kick them out because what is happening here? are these two

fighting at a taco restaurant?  
  
  
  


"Carla!"

"Yes master?"

the waiter's eyes widened,

a talking skatebaord!?

"Where is The Lobster restaurant?"

"The Lobster is approximately 0.5 kilometers from where you're located"

"Let's go I'm famished"

\---

The hotel they're staying at doesn't seem to be terrible Kaoru notes mentally.

In fact he thinks Joe really outdid himself with this one.

It's nothing grand, it has a queen sized bed and an extra mattress laid out next to it.

He'll make sure to call dibs on the bed later.

He turns to his right and... whats this? he sees a private outdoor pool facing the beach,

he feels hot, is it hot in here? Someone turn the AC on he feels a little clammy and

sweaty and he's thinking of things that he shouldn't be thinking in a private outdoor pool this is-

he opens his wooden fan and starts fanning himself

"What the fuck is this?" he asks

"Huh?" Kojiro asks while

he unpacks both his and Kaoru's suitcases,

"Why'd you get a room with a pool when

we're facing the beach? that makes no sense"

"Oh!" Kojiro only smiles at that,

He's always known how uncomfortable Kaoru

gets when it comes to showing a little more skin.

He's not entirely sure if its the stick and poke tattoos he did on himself,

the cherry blossom tattoo that goes all the way from his back to his thigh,

or the nipple piercings he had back then.

"A series of bad decisions that I regret" is what Kaoru always says,

"I can't even look at it now"

but Kojiro thinks everything about him is beautiful.

"Look I know you're not particularly comfortable showing skin especially

in public so..."

he hears himself and cringes, but he decides to keep going

"What better way to swim in the comfort of your private pool?" he ends,

tries to end in an optimistic tune

Kaoru's gaze softens, glint in his eyes visible as he looks back at the pool

"Thanks" he says quietly

"We should split the cost here. This must've cost you a lot" he continues

Kojiro only shakes his head

"Don't even think about it. I saved enough for this trip, We both need this break.

You know... after everything with-"

"Adam" Kaoru finishes

"Yeah"

\---

They spend a night walking around Hollywood Boulevard.

Kaoru doesn't know how this is amusing but seeing as Joe was having the time of his life,

he supposes it wasn't that bad.

He follows after Kojiro who is gleefully skipping

and pointing at the names of the celebrities,

"Kaoru look!"

Kaoru's lips tug into a smile,

tries to suppress it a little bit.

Kojiro can be cute.

"Kaoru! Look its Shirley Temple's handprints!

"Shirley who?"

His head turns to another name

"Look! Jimmy Stewart!"

"Who?"

"Ohmygod!" Kojiro says once again, and takes Kaoru's hand pulling him,

"Marilyn Monroe's!"

Kaoru smiles at him as he watches the other man

get on his knees to fit his hands on the actress' hand print,

Kaoru takes his phone out,

"Smile Kojiro"

and he does.

"You've got big ass gorilla hands" he comments

after taking the picture "you'd crush her hand"

"I don't know about that" Kojiro says standing up,

he takes the other's hand and interlaced it with his

"but my hands seem to fit yours perfectly"

"shut the fuck up"

they continue walking still hand in hand.

After a few blocks of walking they pass by a piercing shop,

Kaoru stops and glances over the store window,

looks at the silver earrings he used to have.

Uneasiness drops in the pit of his stomach, this was four years ago,

the last time he had his piercings was when there was three of them.

He stopped wearing them when they stopped being friends with Adam,

not because of the guy himself.

He'd just preferred to leave everything in the past. He regretted it,

every decision he made.

Everything that happened from four years ago was a bad memory,

the only good thing he's remembered

was Kojiro.

He feels a light squeeze in his hand, "Hey whats wrong?"

He breaks off his trance

"Nothing"

"Do you wanna get your ears pierced?"

Kaoru shakes his head

"I don't know what made you think that but no I do not want

to get my ears pierced again. It's a completely barbaric custom no thank you"

Kojiro silently laughs at that,

"Why not? You're kinda pretty with it"

Kaoru doesn't say anything at that.

"It's whatever"

\---

"You fucking ape!" Kaoru practically shouts

"I was here first! I reached the bed first! ergo, I take the fucking bed!"

"No you don't cheapskate! You pushed me in the hallway! That's foul play!"

"If we were at S it wouldn't be a big deal gorilla!"

"FINE!" Kojiro yells "We do this S style. Take your fucking robot girlfriend with you

and we'll settle this"

he says grabbing his board and dashing out.

Both of them are in position outside the hotel,

the boardwalk was practically empty at this hour and not one of them seems to

want to back down

"Carla!"

"ready

set

go!"

It takes them a while but by the third turn around the Yacht Harbour sign

Joe beats Cherry by a second because of his power break and Cherry curses.

"You're such a fucking asshole"

"Hm? What's that? I'm the best skater?" Joe teases and

Cherry steps on his foot

"OW!"

"You muscle headed gorilla!

You can't do your power break mid way do you want to fall off the fucking boulevard!?"

"I know what I was doing! It was a good hunch"

"Carla!"

"Yes master?"

"Calculations"

"Calculations says 45% chance, dangerous speed"

"Fucking idiot" he curses and aggressively skates back at the hotel,

Joe follows behind.

A little confused about the outburst Cherry had exhibited.

\----

Kojiro sets the warm water in the tub and

places a towel on a table

"Kaoru" he calls out "bath's ready come on"

"I'm tired" he says facing down in the mattress on the floor "let me sleep"

"You're going to get sick sleeping in sweat. You gotta bathe come on"

He takes Kaoru's hand and pulls him up, Kaoru groans

"I hate you" the pink haired man says but he slowly obliges,

"Thanks, I hate you too now come on" he guides the other man to the bathroom

"You're fucking terrible" he says

Kojiro furrows is brows "How so?"

Kaoru looks down, nervously fiddles with his Carla bracelet again,

"That was dangerous. I lost because I thought you were gona fall"

Kojiro's heart drops a little bit,

_ah._ That's why.

Kaoru never says it but he was always worried bout Kojiro.

No doubt in mind his childhood bestfriend is an incredible skater,

but he was also reckless beyond belief. He can't count the number of

times he's let anxiety triple over him when it came to watching Joe at S.

His face remains indifferent, but inside he was always scared.

Ever since Adam, ever since that accident.

Kojiro picks up on Kaoru's nervousness

and envelops him in a tight hug.

he feels warm against him,

Kojiro think he might like this just 

a little bit more.

"I'm literally fine. I'll always will be" Kojiro says

"I've got you to look after me"

Kaoru slaps his back but there wasn't any spite in it,

Kojiro knows.

He knows too well.

He releases Kaoru and notices a small smile in the pink haired man's lips

"You're an idiot"

Kojiro's chest feels warm,

"I know"

\---

It was dark when Kojiro's eyes snap open staring at the ceiling,

he can hear Carla still playing one of Kaoru's childhood lullabies and

he suppresses a groan. How long was Carla supposed to be playing?

He checks the time and it was almost 3am

"Kaoru" he says

"What?"

"When are you going to turn that annoying thing off?"

"You know I can't sleep without her playing this so either go sleep in the bathtub

or the hallway. Your pick" the other one retorts

Kojiro sighs,

"Come up here" he says

"No. I lost remember?"

"I don't care." Kojiro says, "Come up here"

It was silent for awhile and Kojiro thinks the other

might have fallen asleep.

But he suddenly hears the ruffles of the sheets

"Move" Kaoru says "You're taking up the space"

Kojiro smiles just a little bit as he snakes his arm around Kaoru,

presses his face against his pink hair and it smells like vanilla and strawberries.

His feels his stomach doing somersaults.

He thinks he wouldn't mind having Kaoru this close.

"Go to sleep" he murmurs,

his hand softly rubbing the other's arm.

Once he feels Kaoru sleeping,

Kojiro takes this chance to let Carla rest.

"Carla, stop playing"

"Okay Joe"

\---

It's their last day before their flight back to Okinawa and they've spent

the better part of their days skating through Sta. Monica Pier

and the Venice Beach skate park. It was probably the most fun they've had in years and

truly something they needed after the roller coaster they've

been through with Adam and finally breaking free from him.

Somehow this trip has made them love skating again, and most importantly,

made them realize how they feel about each other.

They were playing it safe the past days,

constantly walking on eggshells around each other.

No one would bring it up, hoping they don't ruin this trip, 

but now that it's coming to an end...

Kaoru's lost in thought as he's packing his suitcase. Mind aimlessly wandering

to coming back to reality once they step foot in Japan.

What will happen after this? Will they go back to normal? Will they act like

they hate each other? Will Kojiro eventually forget this trip once they're back?

He's going to have to face this eventually.

And they still have the whole Adam dread going on too...

Kaoru should really leave everything in the past. He makes a mental note to

add that quote to his calligraphy lesson next time.

He hears the door open and sees Kojiro enter their room,

Kaoru quickly looks away and focuses on folding his clothes.

He sees the man leave a small box in front of him, Kojiro only smiles.

His eyes follow the other man as

he strips off his shirt and jumps in the pool.

Curiosity got the better of him and 

he decides to just opens the box,

and holds a breath

in it were two silver earrings

he scoffs.

He can't believe him. Kojiro must have came back to that piercing shop

at Hollywood Boulevard today.

Something warms settles at the pool of his stomach.

"That idiot" he mutters

He takes out one of the earrings

and a note falls on his lap, he opens it:

_"For barbaric customs :)_

_\- Love Joe"_

He looks up to see Joe just staring at the beach, back facing him.

He takes the whole thing with him as he walks by the pool

"What the fuck is this? he asks

because that's the only way he knows how to

Kojiro looks up at him and chuckles, wets his face a little bit

"What?" he asks almost innocently

"You know what. Dumbass"

"Earrings?" he answers

"Yeah. Why?"

Kojiro shrugs,

"You shouldn't regret your past. You also shouldn't hide

who you were, or who you are."

Its silent for a while,

and Joe spends that time looking at how beautiful Kaoru is,

the way the sun shines against his skin,

wind brushing against his hair,

delicate fingers fiddling with his Carla bracelet once again.

A nervous habit Joe knows too well.

"Thanks" he finally says

"I think you're pretty. All sides of you Kaoru."

Joe practically word vomits and he almost wants to cover his mouth, _almost_

but he sees the way Kaoru's cheeks turn a bright shade of pink and he sort of wants to push

his luck here.

Kaoru slowly sits at the corner of the pool,

dips his toes a little bit and Joe feels warm.

"Thanks" he says again

"You already said that"

Kaoru feels like his chest was going to explode. How do you communicate feelings?

Better yet, how do you communicate with a guy like Nanjo Kojiro

whom you've known for years and never realized you were in love with.

Where do you start?

"You make loving fun" Kojiro finally says

Kaoru feels like time has stopped, his palms clammy and he feels

heat creeping up in his cheeks,

“You’re kidding” Kaoru scoffs at Joe’s sudden words

fingers tightly gripping his robe as he sat at the corner of the pool with  
his toes dipping slightly,

Joe notices his nervousness and swims closer;

with no one in sight, and the orange sunset beneath the sky, 

“I’m serious Kaoru, you make loving fun”

Kaoru’s heart beats tenfold.

Kojiro swims closer, places his hands on the platform,

caging Kaoru's legs. The pink haired man looks down at Kojiro,

his eyes says nothing but fondness and... and

"Can I kiss you?" Kojiro asks

He nods and Kojiro reaches up to kiss him.

The kiss was soft at first, like testing the waters.

Tongues slightly brushing against each other as they pull away

"Did I tell you I'm in love with you already?

I don't wanna forget that important detail" Kojiro says

"Yes, you did in your strange way." Kaoru answers

"The barbaric customs note was real cheeky"

Kojiro laughs and dives back in to kissing Kaoru, this time with more fervor.

Kaoru kissed back with equal strength, like years of pent up yearning finally being let out and he moans,

a hand slowly trails his robe, unties it every so slightly

"Come in the pool" Kojiro softly speaks into the kiss,

he trails kisses on Kaoru's neck

"Come on beautiful"

Kaoru nods and slowly takes off his robe,

his toned body and tattooes visible,

he hasnt seen them in years

and Kojiro is in awe.

Once his robe was off,

He holds Kaoru's hips as he guides him in the pool,

the others arms wrapped around his neck.

\---

"You're getting your ears pierced when we get back!?" Kojiro asks

stumped, almost as if he had forgotten that little moment they had yesterday at the pool

Kaoru rolls his eyes, "For barbaric customs, Love Joe"

he says with air quotation marks

"I just know you aren't going to let this one go" Kojiro sighs

and Kaoru only shakes his head no

"Definietly not. 10/10 most idiotic love confession out there"

"Please fasten your seatbelts at this time the plane is about to board"

the pilot annouces and Kaoru tries to settle

"Well?" Kojiro says offering his hand, and the other takes it,

interlaces it with his.

Kojiro gives it a little kiss.

he thinks he doesn't mind this at all.


End file.
